To think there shouldn't be measles outbreaks?

[fatandhappy47]

Surely we shouldn't be having an issue with measles?
Had an email from school (secondary) 'reminding' us to keep kids off with measles, which got me thinking

All my kids band my friends kids of the same age had their MMR (however my youngest did get measles before this)

So why is it an issue in secondary schools of all places? Are people just not vaccinating their kids?

If you’re 63, you’d have been 27 when MMR was introduced! You may have had the measles jabwjab when you were 8?

I had the measles vaccine as a child because my mum had measles when she was young (1930s) and was very ill with a very high temperature.

I did have mumps though. Was very poorly. Went rigid. Gran had to come and stay to help look after me. They could pick me up either end and I was rigid... Dr came every day to see me.

German measles I had twice. First as a baby then a youngish child. (Small enough to be laid in an armchair put in the kitchen while mum cooked/cleaned.)

I had measles pre vaccination and my doctor was scared I'd go blind. I'm not sure if it's linked but I have very sensitive eyes even now.

Also what I don't get is why for these people everything has to be a sinister conspiracy.

Largely the government fuck things up because they're utterly incompetent. Maybe people don't like to believe that because it's a frightening thing.

The reason the MMR is given at 1 year is (I think) its most effective at that time.

I don’t think you can blame just one source. Some people will believe different things. All as illogical and all contributing to the problem

To be fair, if you've not got a scientific background and/or are particularly well educated/intelligent and/or are anxious, there's a lot of rubbish out there. People with no medical or scientific background suddenly giving medical or scientific advice.

My late sister caught measles as a child. Pre vaccine days, she had to lie in a darkened room to protect her eyesight.
My dd born 1979, is deaf in one ear because she caught mumps before she had the MMR vaccine.

Engage them then? Rather than close them down and call them "thick", "scum", "morons" etc.

I don't mean you personally, by the way. I'm talking more about messaging from the government, the media, the medical profession etc. Catch more flies with honey and all that.

Or we can carry on as we are and wring our hands over falling vaccine uptake rates.

@TeenLifeMum, who can blame you for being anxious? We have limited understanding of what is in the vaccine. That is equally true of our food, cars, planes etc
The difference is there was not a fraudster getting fraudulent paper into a medical journal. It is right that medical journals have far lower barriers to publication that scientific papers, but it is still wrong. Then the news went into overdrive to give the evident fraud (and the journalists knew it was not true) credibility.
The people responsible for this are the journalists, Wakefield and the people who think they know more about it that people who do the work. Parents end up in the confusion and being expected to have their kid vaccinated when there is talk in teh air of it being dangerous.

At the risk of sounding like doom-mongering.

• Things like the Andrew Wakefield report set this off.
• The rise of the internet (everyone has access to information, good or bad and not everyone has the capacity to discriminate between the two)
• Brexit - not for the politics per se but the campaigning thrived on the mindset that "the people had had enough of experts" so it encouraged the average person to feel empowered about all things, irrespective of whether they had any understanding of it or not
• Trump's America, Brexit and the mainstreaming of conspiracy theories that rail against government control... Which in turn feed into increasing quantities of internet blogs of "enlightened people" sharing disinformation
• The pandemic, media reports and vaccinations - yes some people had an adverse reaction to the COVID vaxx, an awful lot more died with and of COVID or have been left living with Long COVID but all this feeds into points 2 3 and 4 that means people put more meaning on a tiny risk at the expense of missing the bigger picture.

@Fallenangelofthenorth, I have worked in vaccine development. I had a PhD and everything.
Wakefield was a shyster, there is no point in debating the likes of him.

Then there are people who are wary of vaccines. I do not blame them. I know the development of them, broadly how they work and a sister working in ICU. But most people do not have that advantage and reasonably rely on the people they trust. I spoke a man like this round, but it was only because his boxing coach endorsed my opinion.

Then there are ego-maniacs who are convinced, have never worked in ICU, nor in the medical profession for infectious disease, nor in vaccine development, but are convinced they know best because they are ego manicas. There is no point debating with them as they are ego-maniacs.

Anti vax now is a life style choice, and has no basis on science or thinking about kids . I live outside the uk. The brits/ Americans/ Dutch/ Germans here using anti vax reasoning like it goes hand in hand with being a surfer, taking psychedelics and eating vegetables and not sending kids to school. It's part of an identity set which has weirdly become cool. In the country I live you can't access school unless you vax. So they all say they " live off grid" which is code for - I am a crap parent tbh. I always challenge these parents with the same question- aren't you vaccinated? Yes they say... so please tell me the problem...

@Perhapsanorhertimewouldbebetter - that's the same on here though

There were catch up schemes in late 80s early 90s as far as I remember so some people in their 40s may be vaccinated.

It was definitely offered at school in yr 5 or 6 although I didn’t need it. When they decided a second dose was required I did have that in school.
Worth checking though.

What's 'the same on here though'?
Which of my comments/points are you referring to?

@Duckcake2 if you are fully vaccinated then your baby is protected by maternal antibodies. The first vaccination is timed to coincide with this protection waning. Please try not to worry.

Yes he does

Parents that still refuse to vaccine based on his discredited research are absolute morons

My sister was working in ICU during covid. Things got hugely better when the vaccine arrived and the few patients left were overwhelmingly unvaccinated.
Here theory on the anti-vaxxers (as opposed to people understandably unsure) is that they were determined everything should be about them. Accepting that they are not the experts and people working in hospitals and the labs were the ones who were more important in this event caused them to rebel

Such parents could do with a wander around churchyards with a lot of Victorian graves, where they’d see 2, 3 or more children from the same family, all buried within the same month - during an era when vaccines didn’t exist.

Yes I think you’re absolutely right! But I’ve read babies can have an extra jab before they go on to have their scheduled jab at 1 year. I think it’s normally only used if you are going to a high risk area….but it sounds like the UK could be on its way to becoming high risk 😖

@LondonJax your post brought a tear to my eye. Thinking of that poor child slowly dying and your mum being sent away for safety but of course that meant she wasn't able to say goodbye. Shocking. I have a 10 yr old dd and the thought of losing her is unbearable. All mine are fully vaccinated.

@Perhapsanorhertimewouldbebetter - People with no medical or scientific background suddenly giving medical or scientific advice.

I hope so! I find it crazy that we are lucky enough to have the tools to make this a complete non issue, yet people are choosing not to take the vaccine. I feel for the parents of kids who can’t be vaccinated.

All because of that fake 'research' saying the mmr vaccine caused autism. That Dr at Bristol Uni should have gone to prison.

Yes so many stupid parents won't vaccinate their kids. I personally think that putting your child at risk of very nasty diseases when there is a means of significantly reducing that risk is child abuse.